WHO Gibbs & Shadow WHAT Meeting for coffee WHEN 20 Minutes after this WHERE Hinkles WARNINGS Nah STATUS Closed | Complete gdoc
Shadow had gotten decent feedback on the proposal. It would allow him to work for Wednesday still, and do something with his time. Something that made sense for him to do. He liked the idea of staying busy.
He had too much time on his hands here.
Gibbs had been one to reply, so he'd set up a time to meet over coffee. Or whatever the man wanted, really, to bounce ideas off him and see what he was willing to do to help. It was a step in the right direction.
He arrived early, and commandeered a table for them to use with some privacy. Shadow ordered his coffee and sat to wait, lifting a hand when he saw the man enter. “Over here!”
Gibbs never did well with sitting still. It lasted for a little while, at various lengths depending on how he got into the situation in the first place. Madison Valley was complicated for him for a lot of reasons but the sitting still was starting to wear on him. Breaking up with Karen had been the right thing to do, but with it being just barely the beginning of spring, there wasn't so much work to be done that it was able to properly distract him.
The idea that Shadow had brought up seemed honestly exactly like what he needed. Offering to help had been an easy decision, as had agreeing to meet for coffee. Gibbs needed something else to focus on and this would help more than just himself. There were a lot of people who were like them, who came from a life of fighting and combat, who needed an outlet. He knew he didn't have it as bad as others, but he'd learned long ago that it didn't mean his own needs weren't valid.
"Hey," he greeted as he joined Shadow at the table, his own coffee in hand. "It's a good idea you've got," Gibbs added as he held out his hand. "Nice to formally meet you."
Shadow shook the offered hand then sat back down where he has his coffee waiting. “Thank you, Alfred said something about it in passing, and it rolled around in my head until the other day with that freaky portal thing.”
He still wasn't quite sure how that had worked, it was beyond freaky. “I figured there's enough of us that are used to a more structured environment. Might as well band together and do what we all did in various places for this town.”
He ran a hand over his recently shaved head, smoothing non-existent stubble back, “this place is home, as fucked up as it is. Gotta make it work somehow.”
"Yea, that was a trip and a half." Gibbs had heard about it, hadn't experienced it for himself. He was alright with that considering all that had happened. He liked his combat experiences to be a little more grounded in reality, which was exactly what Shadow was proposing. There were plenty of others like them, the ones who were used to fighting and felt discomfort at the quiet lulls of Madison Valley.
"It seems like it's going to be for as long as whatever this is keeps it all up. Might as well have some kind of outlet for when things become too much." There were only so many boats he could build in his basement and he had a feeling Emily was only going to let him get away with one of those.
Gibbs took a sip of his coffee. "So like I said, I'm willing to help. Whatever you need."
Shadow nodded a bit as he got comfortable again. He liked the idea of being prepared, and to keep people from going crazy. Of course, he’d learned part of that from dealing with Old Gods vs New Gods and being prepared felt right. If he could help even one person at this point, it would be good, because this place was crazy but not in the usual way.
Distractions would be good.
“Exactly - and with so many having come from places that aren’t “normal” day to day life? I know I’m going a little crazy. I thought I would be happy to go back to a normal day to day routine, but I hate it.” he shrugged a little.
“Mostly, I’ve never done anything like this - and I have no idea what I’m doing. Any help would be great, I think while Terrain is great and the other gyms are nice, planning something else would be smarter. There are people here for who an obstacle course just won’t cut it. So ideas are great.”
"You're looking for something better than paintball or laser tag. Higher stakes, something more valuable." Real training for all kinds of scenarios so that they would be more prepared when the time came. There was no telling what all the possibilities could be for what they might face, but between all their shared experiences, it would be a good way for them to at least share that knowledge.
"Something to help prepare us all for what might come." It would certainly ease a good bit of their worries, or so he thought. It would help him, anyway. "You weren't here for the Gates of Hell, were you?" Gibbs didn't think so, but then again, he could only really keep track of his own time here, and Em's. He couldn't do that for everyone.
"Exactly, yes! Those are all good, and useful, but they don't quite keep the right skills sharp. And having that will help a lot of people. You can find that routine and it still feel useful.” He said with a nod.
“I was not, no. What was that, just like it sounds?” He asked with a brow arched, curious. “I'm sure this place can be a version of Hell, and I would feel better keeping my skills sharp, but not just practice, I need something that makes me feel like the stakes are higher.”
Gibbs nodded. He was in complete agreement in that regard, and it was why he didn't venture to Training Terrain much at all. He used the Shooting Range when he felt it necessary, but otherwise he simply built his boat. That wasn't going to be enough for long. Something like this, being involved in it, could help considerably. He liked being useful, mentoring others. That was his purpose in life, or had been before he'd been brought here.
"Worse, in many ways. It was only for a few days, thankfully, but it was a fight. Creatures of all manner invaded the town and they certainly didn't go down easily. Even for those with enhanced abilities, it was not an easy fight." Not in the slightest, but they'd gotten through it and after the woman had defeated Hades, the gates had been closed. "It could have gone better if there had been more training for an invasion."
Shadow nodded a bit, “Being prepared is good. Better to be ready and not need it then not be ready and need it.” he shook his head a bit, “That sounds awful, honestly. Hopefully it can go better next time. Hopefully more people will be up for this kind of thing.” he was hoping, really.
They needed it, something to focus on at least. He didn’t know if this was the right answer but it was a good one to start with. They’d adapt it as they needed, he figured anyway. He liked the idea of having something to work on, it made him feel useful again. He was, he protected Wednesday even though there was not much to do, but it was still his job. He jsut hoped for more, too.
Gibbs lives his life by that motto and it was difficult to do so when he was keeping to himself. There were a lot of ‘hopefully’s in there, but this idea for a place to really train people made him more inclined to believe it could be done. They would need help, absolutely. It would take a bit to find someone or someones capable of creating an interactive training facility but if there were people from comic books here, why not a training room from one?
“I think you’ll get some interest. Maybe not a lot, but enough to make it worthwhile.” Gibbs could think positively in that regard due to the number of people he knew who would be interested in that sort of thing. And there were a few people he hoped would get interested if the situation presented itself. Which gave him the idea.
“It might be worthwhile to have novice days, or more game style sessions to help improve the skills of those who have little to no skills.” He was thinking of Emily and her friends, even Lydia. People who hadn’t ever had to defend themselves before.
Shadow could be a hopeful person. He knew it was a long shot idea, but just maybe it could get traction. He really wanted something to do beyond watching for Wednesday. He needed a direction.
He offered a nod, “Even if it helps keep a few of us from going crazy here, is worthwhile.” An honest answer with a shrug, there was a glimmer that this might work. Maybe they could get one of the comic folk to help with ideas. That would be good.
“Oh, that is a good idea. Kind of a come train with the pros, as it were. In more real world situations than in a gym.” Because you couldn't really learn without being thrown into situations where you needed the training. Training was good and all but if you never faced the real life situation…
"I agree," Gibbs replied, though truthfully he was always going to agree. They needed it, even if people weren't interested in it. If they started small and grew accordingly, it would turn out okay. Even if they started out big, the small number of people that it would no doubt start with would make good use of every inch of whatever facility or training program.
"It's unrealistic to think everyone would take interest, or even most people, but we've had enough situations now that some basic self defense training might be of use, even if it's presented as a game. Plus, I'll be encouraging my niece and her friends to come by." Emily could handle herself in scary situations, but those were scary and normal situations. The situations that happened in Madison tended to be more supernatural in origin, and that was a layer of complication that she needed to train for.
“Then I would welcome your help, I haven’t been here long enough to make much of any connections, but I do have an in with someone with a ton of land for us to use. She’ll add more, I think, if I asked nicely and gave her a chunk.” Making a deal with a valkyrie was probably not wise but she was indebted to Wednesday.
It might not end poorly.
“Start small, work up, see what people wouldn’t mind having, give them something more.” he nodded a bit, “I Think that would be a nice start. I think a fair number of people wouldn’t argue, especially after the portal.”
Gibbs inclined his head. "I'll reach out to the right people," he promised. It might not have sounded all that impressive, but he did know quite a few people who qualified for what Shadow was looking for. "I don't know that I can throw in any money, but I will throw in labor to build whatever needs building," he offered.
It was the least he could do, aside from bringing the people in. "Supplies, too, where I can." He still had the house to do some things around which would take up most of his things, but if he wasn't building another boat, he'd have some money to spare to invest into the business. Gibbs appreciated what was starting to brew and he was, at least for him, excited to see what came next.
"Is there anything else, do you think?"
Shadow nodded, he trusted someone who’d been here longer to know more people than he did anyway. If they were the wrong people, well, they’d figure that out pretty quickly. “Of course, do not worry about money. I have my way for that.” he grinned a little. He was a con man, a poor thief but a good con man. Thanks, Wednesday.
“Well, we can figure those out when we get that far, I think.” he grinned a touch, “I’ll see how much land we can get first, before any plans get laid out for sure, too. I know a woman who might be persuaded to give us a bunch of acres of land.”
“Not right now, people, land and then go from there.”
"So you said." Gibbs was only judging a little bit. He understood that this was a big undertaking and that likely seemed overwhelming right now. Shadow's heart was in the right place and it seemed like he had people in his corner who could help him, regardless of whether or not he was overwhelmed.
"Let me know, and I'll be ready when the time comes." He finished off the last of his coffee and set the cup on the table. There was a brief pause for a moment as he decided whether or not he should stay or leave. Leaving seemed the better option.
"It was nice chatting with you," Gibbs said with a slight inclination of his head.
Shadow rubbed the bridge of his nose upon realizing he'd repeated himself then just grinned, it happened, it was a little silly off him but there were worse things he could have said. It was not the end of the world.
“Thank you, I look forward to working with you on this. Have a good rest of your day.” He finished off his coffee, too, and got to his feet. It was a good first start, he'd get better as time went on.
He wasn't worried. With a nod, he headed off to go plan some more, clearly he had a lot to do.